Freedom Riders

FREEDOM RIDERS is the powerful harrowing and ultimately inspirational story of six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply travelling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in non-violent activism.

From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson (Wounded Knee, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, The Murder of Emmett Till) FREEDOM RIDERS features testimony from a fascinating cast of central characters: the Riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the Rides first-hand. The two-hour documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault's book Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice.

The Freedom Riders Documentary film was a phenomenal success.
It won three Emmy Awards (Outstanding Picture Editing for Non-fiction Programming, Exceptional Merit in Non-fiction Filmmaking, Outstanding Writing for Non-fiction Programming); it helped the PBS series American Experience win a George Foster Peabody Award; it inspired Oprah Winfrey to dedicate an entire show to honour the Freedom Riders; and it screened at the White House.
The film was also included in Bill Moyers’ list of 10 best documentaries about champions of social justice. It made the NY Times top 10 films of the year, and it
became the most watched show in the American Experience franchise in 2011, reaching three million viewers.